Stars-Rangers Notes

Stars-Rangers NotesThe Dallas Stars home power play drought came to an end on Thursday.

The Dallas Stars home power play drought came to an end on Thursday. The Stars, who came into the game 0-24 on the power play at American Airlines Center, scored on their third chance with the man-advantage of the night when Stephane Robidas scored off a shot from the left point.

The Stars ended the night 1-5 on the power play and had 10 power play shots on goal. Stars coach Lindy Ruff said Thursday’s performance was a step forward for the power play.

“Happier,” Ruff said when asked if he was happy with the PP. “We went through a number of games yesterday and looked at the number of second-chance opportunities and the number of pucks to the net and I thought for the most part we did a lot better job of creating the opportunities. There was a couple point blank. Benn had I think two inside on rebound opportunities. He had another one go off the cross bar. I think if we get set up and we get those number of looks the power play is going to start to go. We had some good relief with a man in the middle and created some good opportunities. There was a couple you don't like for maybe like 30, 40 seconds, but overall it looked a lot better than it has."

Jeffrey makes Stars debut

Dustin Jeffrey, claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh on Sunday, made his Dallas Stars debut Thursday night. Jeffrey, who played left wing on a line with Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Garbutt, logged 8:54 of ice time, had no points and one shot on goal.

“I liked his hands, I liked the way he skated. He made some nice plays,” said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. “He was sitting on the outside with all the power plays in the second period, but there was some good stuff from him.”

Brad Richards played against the Stars in Dallas for the first time since signing with the New York Rangers as a free agent in the summer of 2011. Richards, who was acquired by Dallas from Tampa Bay in February 2008, played three-and-a-half seasons with the Stars.

"It was great when I first got here," Richards said about his time in Dallas. "We went on a good run, lost to the Stanley Cup champions in six games [in the Western Conference Final]. I kind of thought that would happen a little more than it did and that got frustrating with ownership and all that stuff. They're back on track and it's good to see."

“That was part of the reason it took a while to make a decision going into free agency because you wanted to see the direction of the team and didn’t know what was going to happen,” Richards said. “I think now that they’re more on solid footing and going on the right direction, so you can kind of see a lot of this happening. No one really knew what was going on. It was a little chaotic. Like I said, it’s good to see everybody from staff, they’re all excited. They love working with the new people so it’s good. It’s a good place to play. You hope they get it on the right track.”

Game Notes

*The Stars outshot the Rangers 43-27 in the game.

*The Stars put 91 pucks towards the net, including shots on goal, missed shots and shots that were blocked by the Rangers.

*The 23 shots the Stars registered in the first period were the most they’ve had in a period this season.

*The 23 saves Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made in the first period were the most he’s made in a period in his career.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.